New Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles played for Bruce Arians in college at Temple, and played professionally for the Redskins.
But when discussing his influences, he was careful to point out Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, and the impact he had.
“He’s been a big part of my coaching life in my professional career,” Bowles said, via Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic.
Parcells gave Bowles his first NFL coaching job in 2000 with the Jets, after coaching against him with the Giants for so long.
“Bill actually taught me the game when I first came into the league as a professional coach,” Bowles said. “He pretty much taught me not to just learn DB play, but learn what everybody does [on defense] and to learn the core pieces of the 3-4 defense and why they work, how they work and what to install first and what to get first.”
Parcells took Bowles along with him to Dallas in 2005, and again to Miami in 2008, with Bowles picking up an assistant head coach title (and three games as interim head coach after Tony Sparano was fired).
Bowles may also get to employ a bit of his mentor’s wanderlust, as Arians said he expects him to be a head coach again soon.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” Arians said. “Hopefully, he’s going to help me groom the guy that’s going to take his place because I don’t think there’s any doubt he’ll be a head coach soon in this league.”
Then again, if the Cards play like the Eagles defense did under Bowles as interim defensive coordinator (1-9, allowing 31.9 points per game), he’ll be looking for work for a different reason.